Lol, Vincent is kind of a dick.
Well, not really. He just has almost no ability to handle emotional issues, but is stuck in a basement with a guy who's having a lot of feelings right now. I've kind of been hinting with the sequence with Elias's mom, but he's got a few hang ups to deal with. He'll get there! One day. Probably not anytime soon.
I've been writing Elias as the classic middle child since the beginning. He obviously had his mom's favor at some point, because she thought he'd make a good alpha, but he feels weird compared to his older siblings who are farther ahead in life, and his more driven younger sister who gets to have dreams without being burdened by werewolf things. And before anyone jumps on me with the whole "only his sister could go to college" thing, he made that choice, and he'll eventually figure out how to pay for college on his own. Scholarships and financial aid and whatnot...but at the time, why would Elias want to sacrifice his sister's dream if he wasn't sure he'd even have time to go to school?
I really enjoy writing these two together, but it's so difficult! Pacing in comics is obviously pretty critical, because it'll only take a normal person maybe a few minutes to read this page. Maybe. It's a lot of info delivered fairly quickly. (Especially because I pack quite a few panels into a page.) In order to sell the idea that they're stuck in this basement for a significant amount of time (not like, all night or anything, but some time), I can't just let this section of the story whiz by. That's not very dramatic. So, I have to keep looking at my script and thinking really hard and kind of padding it out a bit. I already changed things around and added a page after this one that I hadn't planned for (but needed). Then while walking the dog this morning, I realized that I needed to draw things out a bit more, or else I'm basically going to run up into the next scene in only a few more pages, and that's too soon! That scene is a big turning point! So, these dudes are going to have a few more things to discuss, which I realized when I sat down to brainstorm this morning, there were some issues they needed to address that I overlooked, so that's good.
Anyway, the point is, writing a comic is terribly strange. When I look at my script, which is not all that detailed because it's just for me, things seem like they're going along at a fine pace. But when I actually commit that script to artwork, I get more clarity on how the scene reads as a whole, visually, and then adjust accordingly. Usually when I'm close to a big turning moment, I have to be very critical of what I'm writing and the pace that things are moving. Unlike a comic book, where you're given a page limit (usually like, 30 pages or so?), I can create as many pages as I need to tell my story. That's great, but it also means that it's a total judgment call on my part as to whether I need to add or take away sections of my story. I will say, I've never regretted adding more pages and more information. I have regretted not adding pages. So naturally, if things are moving at too quick a pace, I add pages every time. Even if it adds more work to my plate than I want >_>.
The other issue I keep running into is that every time I write lines for Vincent, I have to go back and reword them over and over until he doesn't come across as too chatty lol. Basically, I take his dialog and try and cut it in half as often as I can. I already made it clear early on that he's not a talkative guy. He doesn't really want to make small talk in a basement with a guy with a lot of feelings!
In life news, my temporary/foster cat, Pancake, is off on a trial run with his new mom. We've been trying to make this happen for months now, because she has a cat that has FIV already, so it would work out great to have two immunocompromised cats in the same house because they can't infect each other. Unfortunately, the only condition from her boyfriend is that she had to work out her new job position first, and that has to be run through a committee, and it's a big mess. I'm not good at selling people on Pancake, though. He's very sweet! But he bites! And has not a lot of boundaries, and he bites HARD, but he's very sweet! But don't let him bite you. And if he draws blood, go to urgent care. It's only happened a few times to me so far! But go get antibiotics so your hand doesn't fall off.
But yeah, I'm not great at selling people on things, let alone a slightly bitey cat with sensitivity issues.
In entertainment news, I got to see the new Ghostbusters movie, and it was great! I can understand some of the gripes people have with the plot, but overall, I think it's a totally solid summer blockbuster movie. I absolutely want to see it again. I'm not looking for every damn movie to be a masterpiece, but if there weren't so much stupid bullshit against this movie, it would be hard to find more fault with the writing or the pacing than I can find with any other big action movie. (I mean, hell, I hope I'm never held to such high, impossible standards with my own writing. There's no living up to those kind of expectations.)
I've been watching my way through Star Trek: The Next Generation. I think I originally must have stopped watching somewhere in season 5 back in the day when I still got DVDs from Netflix. Man, what a solid show, especially for its era. They get a little schmaltzy with the feel-good, lesson-of-the-day stories from time to time, but I expect that in 90s TV. It does get rather creepy how often Deanna Troi's personal agency gets stomped all over in order for creepy dudes to take advantage of her, though. I mean, I get it. She's the hot one, and those are common tropes, so it's not like they aren't expected. But it's still creepy as fuck, and only sometimes pointed out as such. I was surprised in the episode where she's mentally raped, that they actually label it as such. There's no long term fall out from it, and they never bring it up again, though. I guess when you're the ship's counselor, you gotta deal with shit on your own? Troi's my favorite, and has been since I was a kid. (Oh, all the subtle cues that I wasn't straight that I didn't catch until I was older...I totally crushed hard on her when I was little.) I like when her emotional intelligence is the thing that saves the day :D.
Okay, gotta go finish tomorrow's page! Very far behind >_>.